Narrative Paintings

THE INNOCENT

The group of Narrative Paintings entitled “The Innocent” series is a manifestation of this artist’s response to the emotional damage wrought by the perpetual and recurring events of horrific violence.

The bomb that explodes and kills many reverberates for generations in the psyche of the survivors. The impact of this violence, regardless if perpetrated by terrorists or citizens with weapons, does not differentiate in the psyche of the victims. These individuals are scarred for life, changed for life and carry these psychic injuries within them. Their emotional wounds influence how they relate to their children, family, friends and life. These wounds can generate and amplify further hate and hostility perpetuating that violence of which they themselves have been the initial victims.

Whether it is the Aleppo or Columbine — whether it is Paris or Newtown — Orlando or Istanbul all of these events exemplify a callous regard for precious life– inflicting horrific lasting physical destruction and emotional pain, to the innocent— the babies, the children, the families. We have been numbed to these events— by the sheer number of them–their constant repetition– amplified by our immersion in media which serves to highlight these events bereft of emotional content.

These paintings represent one artists attempt to provide an antidote to the emotional Novocain we have become accustomed to.

Barnett Suskind, October, 2016

“… (an) open window with a view of an interior in which only the angular planes are visible. This reveals the artist’s interest not only in the window as a subject for painting but in the process of visually looking through from one space to another, opening the secrets of the mind and body, secrets of interactions between spaces and people, which adds a keen and profound psychological dimension to the work…in each case the subject matter of the painting is elevated to a level of intensity beyond resolution, a point in time before an action or the direct aftershock of something that just occurred. What Barnett interprets in each case is the power of painting to catch these internals, to catch hold of the space within time.”